This invention relates to packaging and is more particularly concerned with improvements in container structures which are in the form of a clam shell and which are particularly adapted for rapid packaging and handling of fast food products or other articles.
In the rapidly developing fast food industry the handling of the food products for delivery to the customer requires the use of inexpensive containers which may be filled and closed rapidly and which will enable the customer to carry out the products with assurance that the closed container will not accidentally open and spill the contents, but will remain closed until opened by the customer. A number of different type containers have been employed which are of a size and shape to hold a sandwich or other product of similar dimensions or bulk. Some of these, which have generally been fabricated from foam plastic and take the form of a pair of hingedly connected tray-like members, have been used in large numbers. However, they have not been found fully satisfactory by the customer generally because they lack adequate latching arrangements, when closed, and are too prone to open and spill the contents when they are not carefully handled.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a packaging device in the form of tray-like container which may be economically fabricated from paperboard, or like material, and which is so constructed that when filled, closed, and latched, it is not likely to be accidentally opened upon careless handling.
It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a container of the hinged tray type which may be readily stamped from a paperboard blank with an integral locking or latching arrangement which permits careless handling, likely to be encountered, with little risk of accidental opening.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a container of the hingedly connected tray or clam shell type which is particularly adapted to be formed from a paperboard blank with an integral locking arrangement which is adequate to guard against accidental opening when handled in a relatively careless manner.
It is another object of the invention to provide a container which is particularly adapted for use in packaging sandwiches, or similar items, such as presently marketed in fast food operations, which may be readily formed from a single blank of paperboard or the like, enabling the container to be satisfactorily printed and given a more asthetic appearance than foam plastic, while permitting it to be subjected to considerable heat from infra red heat lamps, warming ovens, or the like, without damage, and at the same time being biodegradable so as to be more readily disposable and less objectionable to environmentalists and conservationists.
To this end the packaging device herein described and claimed comprises a container fabricated from a blank of paperboard, or like material, so as to form a pair of hingedly connected members, one of which is in the form of a tray having flange forming portions opposite hinged edge portions which include integral latching elements adapted to be interengaged when the container members are closed upon each other and to hold the container members in closed position.
The invention will be best understood when consideration is given to the preferred form of the container which is herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein like elements are identified by the same numerals throughout the several views thereof.